Actress Angelina Jolie was moved when the audience welcomed the movie “Maria”, in which she plays the main character, at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
According to Variety , the actress was overwhelmed by the audience’s cheers at the end of the screening on August 29 (local time). Afterwards, she hugged director Pablo Larraín and the project’s cast.
Experts commented that the moment was reminiscent of the audience’s applause for Brendan Fraser in Venice in 2022. During the premiere of The Whale , the actor cried when he received love from the audience. At the 2023 Oscar season, Fraser won the Best Actor award for his role.
A day before the film’s release, a group of Italians even camped out overnight to meet their idol. When Jolie arrived at the theater, she signed autographs and posed for selfies. The actress even met a fan with brittle bone disease on the red carpet.
Critics have given the film positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 70% “fresh” score from 23 reviews. Variety said Jolie deserves to be a contender for Best Actress at the 2025 Oscars.
BBC commented: “The screenwriter has written countless witty, worthwhile lines. It is always fascinating to see a beautiful actress wearing beautiful clothes in prominent locations in Paris.” Awards Daily wrote: “Thank you Larraín for bringing a complex character to life with unique cinematic methods.”
Maria marks the reunion of director Pablo Larraín and screenwriter Steven Knight. The story of the world’s greatest opera singer is recreated during her final days in Paris in the 1970s. The singer lives alone, with only her butler (Pierfrancesco Favino) and maid (Alba Rohrwacher) to care for her.
This is the third film in Larraín’s trilogy about iconic women, following Jackie (about Jacqueline Kennedy) and Spencer (Princess Diana).
At a press conference ahead of the premiere, Jolie spoke about her preparation for the role, which marks her first time singing in a film. According to the actress, she was nervous about filming a scene performing on stage in front of a packed audience at La Scala in Paris. Jolie’s children were present during filming, helping to keep strangers out of the theater.
The actor consulted a lot of documents, empathizing with the character. The artist also spent seven months learning opera at the request of the filmmaker. “When you work with Pablo, you can’t do anything half-heartedly. He requires you to really learn and practice,” Jolie said.
Angelina Jolie , 49, was born into an artistic family in the United States. She first appeared on screen with her father, Jon Voight, in the film Lookin’ to Get Out (1982) and began acting in 1993 with Cyborg . The star has won three Golden Globes and an Oscar.
The Venice Film Festival is the oldest film event in Europe, first held in 1932. The 81st edition will take place from August 28 to September 7 (local time), with French star Isabelle Huppert as jury president. The event will feature Jolie’s ex-husband Brad Pitt , but the organizers have arranged to attend on different days to avoid causing embarrassment for both of them.
